Happy Holidays!

Perfecting the basics is one of the highest priorities for me as a coach. I spend 70% of my pre-teams' work-outs on conditioning & flexibility, which is closely monitored like a hawk. The rest of the time is on basics, footwork, arm positions, etc. It's hard at times to keep them motivated but they are a fun group and we come up with ways to work on our skills and stay focused.

One way we work footwork on beam is by doing zig-zag walks in 5th position. More than half of these girls walked into the gym with that silly pigeon toe and these are helping establish a good turnout. We zig-zag forwards and backwards. Another way of mixing it up is by adding a relevé to change the levels and we add tendu to 4th position, lunge, etc. I'll let one of them pick out a sequence of 3 or 4 and we'll work on that for a pass or two then give another teammate a chance to come up with a sequence. 

On our last practice for the year, they came up with something even better...

As a coach I'm holding back as much as I can to stick to these basics, get it right and not to rush skills. These little ones make it easy for me because they enjoy doing it as long as I make it seem like we are doing different things every day. We have lots of work to do in 2012, but we're ready to go and I'm hoping I'll keep coming up with more fun and effective ways to teach them how to use their bodies like a gymnast. 

Open Gym, not just for the kids!

It's a great time for me to play with the kids, experiment with props and stations. I find most of the greatest ideas from my kids or just seeing something from a different view. Open Gym at our gym can get quite messy, balls, noodles, mats and equipment everywhere! In this case, I saw a Theraband hanging on the balance beam and there goes the light-bulb switch.

At first I thought of using an incline, but then I thought of the tire tracks that the wheels could roll on. This also makes them keep super tight! Wish we had more spring boards and more Therabands so I could make them roll under all 3 of our high beams.

I also use Open Gym to test out new ideas. In this next drill, I wanted to add a little more for my tactile learners. Most of the time, I'll just have the kids make fists and call it a day. But I find that they'll usually just open their hands & lose that sense of keeping tight the whole time. I made pairs of different textures for them to fit in their hands.


The girls really likes doing the sponges, I'm thinking there's more to the average dish sponge than we thought.